by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame's investigation into the Manti Te'o hoax story did not interview any member of the Te'o family, did not attempt to interview Ronaiah Tuiasosopo or any of his relatives and made only a slight foray into the electronic communication between Te'o and the individual pretending to be Lennay Kekua, the South Bend Tribune reported Sunday.

According to two Notre Dame officials, the private investigative firm hired by Notre Dame to examine the hoax "did not interview Te'o or his family, nor did anyone attempt to contact Ronaiah Tuiasosopo or any of his relatives."

When asked for further information, the officials told the South Bend Tribune that the firm "did not examine cell phone records, e-mails or other electronic communication to determine the length or extent of Te'o's communication over the past few years with the person claiming to be Lennay Kekua, nor did the university ask Te'o to take a lie detector test."

The university hired a private investigative firm on Jan. 2, one week after Te'o called coach Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco from Hawaii to inform them of the scheme involving Kekua, the girlfriend Te'o believed had died in September. The firm handed in its findings to Note Dame on Jan. 4.

The results of the search, along with the All-American's conversations with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, convinced the university that Te'o was the victim of a "catfishing" scheme involving Tuiasosopo and at least one other individual.

But as detailed by the Tribune, which spoke with two Notre Dame officials, the firm was asked only to focus on how the hoax might threaten the school or its reputation, not to investigate into the scheme on Te'o's behalf.

"We asked them to focus on any threats to the university or its reputation, by providing more information about the so-called Kekua family that might help us understand motives, or whether they might have had any contact with others at Notre Dame," university spokesman Dennis Brown told the Tribune.

The two-day investigation began with a fruitless search for Kekua in its online databases. What the search firm did discover is that the home address in Carson, Calif., the person pretending to be Kekua had given Te'o matched the address for Tuiasosopo.

On Jan. 4, the firm discovered "public Twitter posts between individuals making joking reference to Te'o's relationship with 'Lennay,' and alluding to it being a 'catfish' scheme," the South Bend Tribune reported. According to the firm, these two pieces of evidence indicated to Notre Dame that "Te'o had been victimized."